The efficacy and function of red stem scutellaria

As people's living standards continue to improve, health and longevity are gradually valued by us, so nowadays health-preserving diet therapy methods are very popular, the trend of traditional Chinese medicine is becoming more and more popular, and Chinese medicine has once again occupied people's vision. Today we will talk about the Chinese medicine red-stem Scutellaria baicalensis.

【English Name】 Redstem Skullcap

【Other name】 Polygonum multiflorum

[Source] Medicinal material source: the whole herb of Scutellaria baicalensis, a plant of the Lamiaceae family.

[Original form] Perennial herb. The rhizome is creeping and densely covered with fibrous roots; the stem is 30-35cm tall, erect or oblique, obtusely quadrangular, grooved, often pink or light red, nearly glabrous or slightly pubescent. Leaves usually 3-4 pairs; petiole 5-12mm long, concave on the abdomen and convex on the back, covered with glandular hairs and soft hairs, often water red; leaf blade oblong, ovate or elliptical-ovate, 3-13cm long, 1.5-5.5cm wide, acuminate or long acuminate at the apex, rounded at the base, rarely cuneate, with sparsely and very inconspicuous small teeth on the margin or shallowly wavy or nearly entire, dark green above, light green or water red below, densely covered with concave glandular dots. Flowers are opposite, arranged in terminal or axillary racemes 9-15cm long; peduncle 2.5-3.5mm long, and both are light red with the axis of the peduncle, densely covered with fine soft hairs and glandular soft hairs; bracts are degenerate; calyx is purple-red, about 2mm long, enlarged when fruiting, about 3mm long, covered with fine soft hairs on the outside, shield is open, semicircular, 1.5mm high, and up to 4mm high when fruiting; corolla is 1-1.2cm long in the crown tube, with the base bent in the front and gradually enlarged upward, the crown brim is two-lipped, the upper lip is helmet-shaped, and the lobes on both sides are oval; two strong stamens, the filaments are flat, and the lower part is ciliated; the disk is thick, finger-like and elongated in the front and exceeds the ovary; the style is slender and the ovary is smooth. The nutlets are dark brown when mature, triangular-ovate and tuberous. The flowering period is April and the fruiting period is May.

[Habitat distribution] Ecological environment: Grown under mountain forests or beside valley ditches.

【Nature and flavor】 Bitter; cold

【Functions and indications】 Clears the liver and improves eyesight; cools blood and detoxifies. It is used to treat dizziness, eye swelling and pain, cataracts blocking the eyes, hemoptysis caused by lung heat, thirst caused by summer heat, carbuncle and swelling.

[Usage and Dosage] For oral use: decoction, 6-15g. For external use: take appropriate amount and mash fresh product for application.

[Discussions by various scholars] "Xinhua Compendium of Materia Medica": The whole plant has the function of clearing heat and improving eyesight. Used for eye heat, cataract and fever.

【Excerpt】 Chinese Materia Medica

The utilization rate of red stem Scutellaria baicalensis in traditional Chinese medicine is still very high, and it can be used to treat a variety of diseases. We should consume it after fully understanding the effects and functions of red-stem Scutellaria baicalensis. I hope everyone doesn’t eat carelessly.